Ripped-up lottery brand wins £58m jackpot

Media captionFred and Lesley Higgins matched the total numbers within the Euromillions draw.

A retired couple have acquired a £58m lottery jackpot – no topic the winning brand being mistakenly ripped in two.

Fred and Lesley Higgins, from Aberdeenshire, matched the total numbers within the Euromillions draw on 10 July.

But when Mr Higgins checked his numbers, the store assistant on the starting up informed him it was as soon as no longer a winner, ripped up the brand and threw it away.

When the machine then informed them to contact Camelot, it was as soon as fleet retrieved from the bin.

When he got dwelling and checked the numbers, Mr Higgins stumbled on they had scooped a entire of £57,975,367.

Mr Higgins, sixty seven, and his wife Lesley, 57, from Laurencekirk, had been traditional avid gamers of the Tuesday and Friday draw.

Ripped in two

Mr Higgins took final week’s tickets into his local store to be checked while he purchased his tickets for the following week.

He requested the retailer to flee them thru the machine in case of a winner.

He said: “I handed the brand over and the young man establish it thru the machine, telling me it wasn’t a winner. He ripped the brand in two and threw it into the bin, as they would with all non-winning tickets. But this time, the terminal produced a chitty which said I needed to protect my brand and phone Camelot.

“The retailer without prolong grabbed it out of the bin and handed it to me, no longer realising it was as soon as a winner sooner than he discarded it.”

Picture copyrightPA

Picture copyrightPA

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Money worries over: Lesley Higgins has now handed in her ogle as she prepares for a more leisurely standard of living

Even even though the brand had been torn in two, the total numbers had been nonetheless sure, so Mr Higgins took it wait on dwelling to shatter the dedication.

While his wife was as soon as having a nap, he logged onto the Nationwide Lottery web set of living to double-check the numbers.

He said: “The predominant matched, then the second matched, match, match – we had them all.

“When Lesley woke, I explained we had a winning brand and what had occurred. I showed her the numbers, requested her to envision and she misread them, thinking we had been £5.7m richer in want to an wonderful £57m.

“I felt if truth be told nonetheless at that level – I judge it was as soon as appropriate sinking in – so I then called Camelot and explained what had occurred.”

The torn brand made processing the protect shut a exiguous bit more complicated. A security team came out to gape the couple and consult with the retailer to envision the direction of events and gape on the CCTV photos.

The couple published they had saved the brand at their dwelling while the investigation took arena.

Mrs Higgins, who worked as an myth manager on the Montrose Port Authority, said: “It was as soon as in an envelope, in a filing cabinet, up the stairs. And I had written on the envelope, in red letters, Money Worries Over!

“It was as soon as there for a entire week and basically the most piquant person we informed was as soon as my daughter.”

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Lesley Higgins was as soon as “delighted” to understanding the protect shut

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The couple have their leer on shopping a property abroad

With the cash firmly of their myth, the couple – who had been married for 35 years – have already made their first resolve, a original Audi Cabriolet.

Mr Higgins, a retired Audi administrator, said: “We had a terribly satisfied existence sooner than the protect shut but we did have dreams of residing abroad. We fancy Gozo, which is where my niece lives, so we repeatedly belief we would salvage somewhere available.

“But I even want to speak since we acquired, I’ve got my leer on somewhere in France and Lesley appears to be taking a gape at property in Barbados. I judge it must be enjoyable to detect a number of locations sooner than we decide to shopping the leisure.”

And as a eager collector of malt whisky, Mr Higgins said there may maybe be also a number of more so to add to his sequence.

He added: “It is our marriage ceremony anniversary on 20 August and my birthday a number of days later, so I judge a celebration is in uncover sooner than we exhaust what comes next.”

The couple purchased and checked their winning brand on the Scotmid in Excessive Road, Laurencekirk.

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Sean Grant is relieved on the elated ending after ripping the winning lottery brand

The assistant who threw away the brand was as soon as Sean Grant. He informed the BBC it was as soon as out of behavior that he binned the £58m brand: “Mr Higgins came in with 2 lottery tickets for me to envision.

“The predominant one wasn’t a winner so I binned it. The second was as soon as a winner but I did now not quiz of it to be that a lot. I appropriate ripped it and binned it on myth of ninety 9% of of us beget no longer need the brand returned to them.

“I went wait on to the lottery machine and it said it was as soon as in blueprint over what we would perchance pay so I had to salvage the brand out of the bin and return it to Mr Higgins.”

He added: “I apologised and said that he had to telephone Camelot and that he had acquired a upright amount of money but I did now not quiz of it to be that a lot, tips. To hear they’d acquired £58m was as soon as appropriate wonderful and for a neighborhood couple it be even better. I beget no longer even pay out £50 or £100, on no myth tips £58m.”

A spokeswoman for Scotmid said: “Salubrious congratulations to Fred and Lesley Higgins – we are satisfied for them. We had been working carefully with the winners, Camelot and our retailer management to enhance due direction of.

“The actual person concerned acted fleet and openly and rectified the anguish. The largest component is that two of us’s lives have changed regularly and all interesting agree this was as soon as an upright mistake that was as soon as without prolong rectified, reported and resolved.”

The winning Euromillions numbers from the draw on 10 July had been three, eight, 26, 33, forty five and the 2 Lucky Stars had been 7 and 10.

Scotland’s lottery winners

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Christine and Colin Weir have old their fortune to fund a sort of upright causes

Chris and Colin Weir – £161m

Colin and Christine Weir grew to vary into the UK’s biggest lottery winners after they scooped £161m in a Euromillions draw in July 2011.

The couple, from Largs, North Ayrshire, have old their cash for political and charitable causes.

They’ve invested carefully in Partick Thistle soccer membership, donated a critical amount to the SNP and the Yes Scotland marketing campaign and launched the Weir Belief, a philanthropic venture to enhance Scottish charities and community initiatives. It has given away about £5m because it was as soon as founded.

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David and Carol Martin took 1/2 of the £66m jackpot

David and Carol Martin – £66m

The couple from Hawick within the Scottish Borders acquired £66m in a Nationwide Lottery jackpot in January 2016.

Carol said she was as soon as horrified when her husband said they had acquired. “I believed he was as soon as appropriate joking,” she said. “I would perchance now not give it some belief.”

Picture copyrightPhilip Stanley Dickson

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Tommy and Linda Parker acquired £25m in October 2017

Tommy and Linda Parker – £25m

Retired East Lothian man Tommy Parker vowed to originate his wife Linda a dwelling after their £25m protect shut within the lotto in October 2017.

An arthritis sufferer, Linda stumbled on it strong to salvage around unaided.

Tommy’s dream was as soon as to give Linda a dwelling without stairs that she is also satisfied and elated in.